SPORTSWOMAN OF THE MONTH (JULY) SYCERIKA McMAHON (SWIMMING) MADELINE PERRY (SQUASH):JULY PROVED to be another memorable month for two sportswomen from Co Down, Portaferry teenager Sycerika McMahon winning two golds and a silver medal at the European Junior Swimming Championships in Belgrade and Banbridge's Madeline Perry adding the Singapore Masters to her list of professional squash titles.
We have, then, a Down double, the judges deciding the pair’s achievements were inseparable and, so, opting to make them joint winners of our July award.
McMahon follows in the footsteps of another multi-medalist from the European Junior Championships, our 2010 Sportswoman of the Year Gráinne Murphy.
The 16-year-old was in outstanding form in Belgrade, winning gold in the 400m freestyle and 50m breaststroke, setting new Irish records in both.
She also collected a silver medal in the 200m freestyle.
“She is a tough competitor and has a passion and drive for success that has seen her perform so well this week,” said Bobby Madine, her coach at Leander.
McMahon gave another glimpse of her potential at the World Championships in China later in the month when she lowered her 50m breaststroke record again.
Meanwhile, her fellow county woman Perry has been busy realising her sporting potential for the past few years, her latest success coming in Singapore, where she was seeded four.
A week earlier she had suffered the disappointment of a first round loss, in straight games, at the Malaysian Open, but rebounded in some style to win her second “gold” level tour title (after last year’s Australian Open) and ninth in all.
Perry saw off the challenge of England’s Sarah Kippax and New Zealand’s Jaclyn Hawkes, both ranked in the world top 20, in the opening rounds, winning both matches without dropping a game.
She then came up against the tournament’s giantkillers, Camille Serme of France, who had beaten former world number one Rachael Grinham in the quarter-finals, and British champion Laura Massaro, who ousted top seed and defending champion Nicol David in the last four.
Perry, though, got the better of both players, beating Serme in straight games before sealing the title – and a cheque for US$8,550 (€6,000) – with an 11-7, 11-8, 5-11, 11-9 win over Massaro, the world number five, who had beaten the Irish champion in their previous meeting.
Yesterday, she beat Siti Munirah Jusoh of Malaysia in the first round of the Australian Open – 11-5, 11-2, 11-3 – and tomorrow takes on Hong Kong’s Joey Chan.
Perry and McMahon, then, make it an impressive Down double for July.
Monthly Awards So Far
(This year’s awards cover Dec 2010 to Nov 2011)
December: Fionnuala Britton (Athletics) – The Wicklow runner just missed out on a medal at the European Cross Country Championships, finishing fourth but given the same time as the runner in third.
January: Leona Maguire (Golf) – The 16-year-old won the Portuguese Amateur Open Championship, which featured over 80 of Europe's leading amateurs, by a remarkable 15 strokes.
February: Fiona Coghlan (Rugby) – Coghlan captained Ireland to Six Nations' victories over Italy and Scotland and just a two-point defeat to France in February.
The team, without several of its most experienced players, went on to finish third in the table.
March: Lisa Maguire (Golf) – Lisa followed up her twin Leona's January success by winning the Spanish International Amateur Championship, a victory that lifted her into the top 10 of the world rankings.
April: Nina Carberry (Horse racing) – Carberry became only the second woman to win the Irish Grand National when she rode Organisedconfusion to victory at Fairyhouse.
May: Jenny Egan (Canoeing) – The Salmon Leap canoeist took silver at the World Cup Two in the Czech Republic, a year after becoming the first Irish canoeist to medal at this level.
June: Katie Taylor (Boxing) – Our two-time sportswoman of the year won her fourth successive European Union championship title in Poland, her 11th major international title since 2005.
